Flood Rising (Jenna Flood #1)

That was as far as she needed to go. She shifted back into ‘park’ and got out, leaving the lights on and the door open. As she moved back out of the building, she checked to make sure she still had the journal and the gun, and then she ran through the darkness toward the edge of the building, where Mercy was still moving her car out of sight.

Jenna turned the corner of the building and gestured for Mercy to hurry. The approaching glow was much brighter now. She figured they had only a few seconds left before the unknown visitor rounded the corner for the final approach to the silo building.

“Is this good?” Mercy called.

Jenna nodded. “Keep it running but no lights.”

“Aren’t you going to get in?”

Jenna knew that was what she should do, but her curiosity about the identity of the visitor overpowered her logic. It might be a late-night thrillseeker or some kids coming out to party at the abandoned rocket facility. It might be a cop, investigating the open gate, perhaps responding to reports of activity on the closed road. That would be bad, but Jenna’s real concern was that it might be something even worse. She remained at the edge of the structure, the gun gripped tightly in her hand, her thumb hovering above the safety catch, and she watched as the headlights appeared.

They came fast. So fast that Jenna felt certain, even without being able to see for herself, that her worst suspicions were about to be confirmed. In a matter of seconds, the car arrived in the parking area and pulled in behind Carlos’s rental. She couldn’t make out any details about the vehicle itself, but when the doors were thrown open, three men got out. As they ran into the building, she recognized them.

Zack and company. How did they find us here?

The answer came to her almost as quickly as the question. Not us. They followed Mercy.

She ran back to the car and opened the door. The dome light came on, but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be visible to the driver in the other car.

As soon as she was in with the door closed, she turned to Mercy. “Do you still have your phone?”

“Sure.” Mercy held up the device. “I don’t think you’ll get a signal out here.”

Jenna took it and hurled it out the window.

Mercy let out a gasp. “Hey!”

“They tracked you here.” Jenna didn’t offer any further explanation, and Mercy didn’t argue, but now she wore an apologetic expression. “They’re inside. If we’re lucky, they won’t be able to see us in the dark, and it will be a few minutes before they realize we’re not here anymore.”

Mercy put the car in gear and let it roll forward. “And if we’re not lucky?”

Jenna shrugged. “Drive like hell?”

“That worked so well last time,” Mercy grumbled. She steered wide, swinging as far out into the darkness as she dared, careful not to touch the brakes, lest a flare of red light give them away. Jenna’s attention flickered between the nearly impenetrable darkness ahead and the bright square of illumination that was the building’s entrance. There was movement within, and Jenna strained her ears, listening for shouts of alarm that might indicate they had been spotted. A moment later they were past the parked cars and headed down the faintly visible stripe of white that was the concrete road. Jenna looked back, watching for some sign of pursuit, but it appeared that their stealthy escape had worked.

“Faster,” Jenna urged.

“I’m going faster than I can see already,” Mercy retorted through gritted teeth.

Jenna pursed her lips and kept watch through the rear window. Not that there was anything to see. The building had been swallowed up by the night.

Suddenly the world lit up red. Mercy had tapped the brakes, just enough to make the northward turn without losing control. Jenna let it pass without comment, but as the red glow vanished, she saw a warmer yellow light in the distance directly behind them, and her heart sank.

“They’re coming.”





26



3:16 a.m.



Mercy kept the lights off even though it meant sacrificing speed for stealth. Jenna took out Carlos’s phone and searched through the history until she found the map she had used earlier to find the Aerojet facility. She had memorized it upon her first inspection, but her attention had been focused on navigating to the silo building.

“There’s a side road coming up on the right,” she said.

“I won’t be able to see it.”

Jenna eyed the little dot on the screen that monitored their progress. “Couple more seconds. I’ll tell you when.”

Mercy let off on the gas and peered into the darkness along the roadside. Jenna saw the faint gap in the foliage. “There. Turn now.”

Mercy wheeled the car onto the siding. There was a crunch of snapping twigs as the left front tire rolled through the brush, but Mercy corrected and found the pavement once more. On the display screen, the little dot was centered on the line that marked the road, and in a matter of just a few seconds, they were halfway to the cluster of squares that marked the derelict Aerojet buildings.